


Putting Him Through The Paces

by afteriwake



Series: In So Few Words [5]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sherlock Being Sherlock, Sherlock Being an Asshole, Sherlock Gets It Wrong, Sherlock Holmes & Dimmock Friendship, Sherlock Is A Bit Not Good, Sherlock-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-07
Updated: 2013-03-07
Packaged: 2017-12-04 12:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When DI Dimmock begins asking for Sherlock's help after their first case together, Sherlock thinks he might have someone he can train. It doesn't quite go according to plan, and Sherlock must reevaluate how he treats the young DI before he loses a potential ally for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Putting Him Through The Paces

**Author's Note:**

> An answer to a sherlockmas Afterglow Fest prompt: "Sherlock/Dimmock or Sherlock & Dimmock. Sherlock ordering Dimmock around, he thinks it'd be nice to shape/train young DI. Dimmock is not impressed, John dissaproves and Lestrade thinks it's hilarious and refuses to show any sympathy."

One thing Sherlock knew abundantly well was that Scotland Yard was divided into two groups: Lestrade and not Lestrade. Lestrade would tolerate just about any quirk of Sherlock’s so long as Sherlock came through and solved the case. The other Detective Inspectors, on the other hand, would not. And so it was that Sherlock worked more or less exclusively with Lestrade. Oh, once or twice another DI might call Sherlock up for a consult, but after that? Never again. Once was enough.

Sherlock had thought Dimmock might be in the “not Lestrade” group after the “Case of the Blind Banker,” as John had called it on his blog. After all, Sherlock had done his best to treat the younger man like he was a nuisance. So when he got a call from Dimmock asking for a consult on a second case, and then a third, Sherlock began reevaluating the man. Maybe, if he could be properly trained, he could be of use to Sherlock as another DI he could rely on to let him solve the cases his way with little involvement.

Sherlock’s training regimen was rather unorthodox. It involved reducing Dimmock down to a possibly helpful if not entirely bright person with the authority needed to make arrests. Sherlock knew John disapproved; John felt all the DIs should be treated with the utmost respect. Lestrade just looked on with an amused look on his face. Oh, he knew what Dimmock was in for, having gone through it himself. He found it bloody hilarious and refused to show the younger man any sympathy.

Dimmock himself didn’t take to kindly to this. Of course he wouldn’t, Sherlock realized that his methods could be rather extreme, and at least a little off-putting. But that was how it went when you were training someone. Lestrade had gone through it, John had as well a bit, and now it was Dimmock’s turn. In the end it would make him a better inspector, and Sherlock knew in the end if there were more DIs like Lestrade and less like the others than Scotland Yard might actually get things done in a more efficient manner.

It didn’t take long for Dimmock to blow up at him. Lestrade had never done that, but of course Lestrade had been older than Dimmock was when he started and Sherlock had been younger, not as sure of himself, not as confident in his skills, not so arrogant, if the truth were to be told. With age had come experience, and that was something else Dimmock had not had much of, being as young as he was. So when Dimmock exploded, followed shortly after by John for treating him so callously, Sherlock had to take a step back and re-evaluate things.

It took an extended conversation with Lestrade for Sherlock to realize that, perhaps, he really was being too hard on the younger DI. Lestrade had given him the old adage that perhaps you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. If Lestrade was suggesting Sherlock be nicer to Dimmock, he could have just said it outright, but just as Lestrade had learned to live with Sherlock’s quirks over the years Sherlock had learned to live with quite a few of Lestrade’s, and the overabundance of useless adages was one of them.

The more he thought the more he saw the truth in that particular one. He scrapped his training and started afresh, trying to be nicer, more accommodating. Both Dimmock and John looked at him as if he’d sprouted a second head or grown wings, and for as uncomfortable as being nice felt, Sherlock felt they were entirely justified. Finally Dimmock cornered him for a talk. Said all he wanted was respect. Said he hadn’t become a DI by being stupid, and he just wanted Sherlock to acknowledge that. Said the fact he even continued to ask for Sherlock’s help did not make him a glutton for punishment, and if the abuse kept up at the levels it had been at previously he would stop asking for help. Dimmock told Sherlock to think things over at that point, and left the room.

Finally he decided to just look at Dimmock as though he were like John or Lestrade: smart, but not as clever as him. A partner, to an extent, and not necessarily someone who was better. Not quite an equal, but not so far below him that they were useless. Someone he could throw a complicated deduction at and know they would at least partially understand. When he decided to take that view on the situation, he found that everyone worked better together, and the addition of another ally at Scotland Yard helped greatly. In the end, that was what mattered most.


End file.
